Cellular-phone case having retractable card holding structure

ABSTRACT

A cellular-phone case having a retractable card holding structure, intended to hold a card in such a way that the card is put into or taken out from the case. The cellular-phone case includes a case body and a card holding means. The case body has a seating space to allow a cellular phone to be seated therein, with an outlet formed at a predetermined position on a back portion of the case body in such a way as to communicate with the seating space. The card holding means includes a support panel fitted into the outlet, the card being disposed on the support panel, and an actuating body provided on a side of the support panel so as to be locked to the outlet. The outlet is provided in the case body, and the card holding means is provided to move into and out of the outlet.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.15/180,809, filed on Jun. 13, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/015,744, filed on Aug. 30, 2013, which claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No.10-2012-0095621, filed Aug. 30, 2012, the entirety of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cellular-phone case having aretractable card holding structure and, more particularly, to acellular-phone case having a retractable card holding structure, inwhich an outlet is provided in a case body, and a card holding means forholding a is card is provided to move into and out of the outlet, thusbeing convenient to store the card, making it easy to put or take thecard into or out from the case, and maintaining a good appearance afterthe card has been stored in the case.

2. Description of the Related Art

Generally, a mobile phone means all phones that may communicate with ageneral phone subscriber or a different mobile communication phonesubscriber through a base station within a wireless zone while a usermoves optionally within a mobile communication area, like a car phone.Such a mobile phone is called by the name of a portable phone, a mobilephone, a cordless cellular phone, a cordless portable phone, a pocketphone, etc.

Such a mobile phone is a phone communication terminal that can be easilyused while a user carries. Recently, modern people possess the mobilephone as an essential item. The cellular phone is equipped with manyadditional functions, including digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), anavigation system, a camera, and a multi media player for playing anMPEG audio layer-3 and a digital moving picture, and performs morefunctions as a digital device using an application program calledapplication (APP).

In recent years, additional functions are being added to smart phonescoming to market, for example the function of surfing a wirelessinternet through a so-called 4-generation ( 4G) data communicationnetwork and wireless fidelity (WiFi). The design and shape of the smartphone has become better, and the overall size of the smart phone becomessmaller to allow it to be put into a pocket of clothes with minimumweight, so that the weight of the smart phone is gradually reduced. Mostof smart phones that are available in Korea today are a bar type inwhich a front having a screen is formed as a touch screen. The touchscreen on the front is made of tempered glass.

The tempered glass is advantageous in that it is resistant to scratch orimpacts acting on the front. However, the tempered glass is veryvulnerable to impacts acting on the side. Thereby, when a smart phonehaving a display panel made of the tempered glass falls to the groundbecause of carelessness during its use, a front panel protecting thedisplay panel or the display panel itself is broken due to impactsagainst the ground.

Hence, a user is more susceptible to scratching, cracking, or damaging acellular phone that is relatively expensive and is good in appearance.Moreover, the cellular phone has a growing tendency to be utilized as anaccessory that suits a user's taste, by using the appearance of thecellular phone. In order to satisfy a user's demand, cellular-phonecases of various kinds and materials are being developed and coming tomarket to prevent the damage to the cellular phone and to provide a goodappearance.

A mobile phone case is typically classified into a pouch type, a wallettype and a housing/case type. The pouch type is intended to hold andstore the mobile phone in a holding space made of leather or cloth. Thewallet type is configured to form a space holding a mobile phone thereinby cutting leather and to open and close a cover. The housing/case typeis made of a synthetic resin material such as plastic or silicone, thusallowing the mobile phone to be fitted into and held in a holding spacedefined therein.

However, the pouch type is problematic in that the entire cellular phoneis completely put into the holding space defined in the pouch, so thatthe cellular phone should be taken out from the pouch when a userdesires to use the cellular phone, thus causing inconvenience. Thewallet type is problematic in that the cover of the wallet should beopened or spread to use the cellular phone, thus causing inconveniencewhen a user desires to make a phone call. Meanwhile, the housing/casetype is advantageous in that it is easy to confirm contents displayed onthe touch screen disposed on the front of the bar type cellular phone,and in addition, it is easy to use a touch is key on the touch screen.However, the housing/case type is problematic in that the material ofthe housing/case is mainly synthetic resin such as plastic, so that ithas an unpleasant texture or feel.

Further, modern people generally carry the cellular phone as well as atleast one or more cards, for example, a transportation card for paying apublic transport fare, a credit card used to buy goods on credit, and adiscount card for getting a discount when purchasing goods. Even thoughthese cards are used in everyday life as frequently as the cellularphone, it is common to store the cards in a separate wallet.

Recently, a cellular-phone case having a card holding structure is beingdeveloped to simultaneously carry both the cellular phone and the card,thus making it convenient to use the cellular phone and the card.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind theabove problems occurring in the related art, and an object of thepresent invention is to provide a cellular-phone case having aretractable card holding structure, in which an outlet is provided in acase body, and a card holding means for holding a card is provided tomove into and out of the outlet, thus being convenient to store thecard, making it easy to put or take the card into or out from the case,and maintaining a good appearance after the card has been stored in thecase, and thereby meeting the demands of the times and the requirementsof consumers.

In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention providesa cellular-phone case having a retractable card holding structure,intended to hold a card in such a way that the card is put into or takenout from the case, the cellular-phone case including a case body havinga seating space to allow a cellular phone to be seated therein, with anoutlet being formed at a predetermined position on a back portion of thecase body in such a way as to communicate with the seating space, and acard holding means including a support panel fitted into the outlet, theis card being disposed on the support panel, and an actuating bodyprovided on a side of the support panel and disposed to be locked to theoutlet.

Further, a receiving hole may be formed in an inner surface of the backportion to allow the support panel to be put into or taken out from thecase body, a pair of guide grooves each having a triangularcross-section being formed in the receiving hole, a pair of guideprotrusions being formed on an upper surface of the support panel to befitted into the guide grooves and thereby guided, and rail grooves maybe further formed on both sides of the receiving hole to guide both endsof the support panel.

Moreover, an elongated receiving hole may be further formed in thesupport panel to receive an embossed letter protruding from a surface ofthe card and allow the disposed card to be separated.

Further, the actuating body may include an actuating recess on an uppersurface thereof and a locking protrusion on a lower surface thereof, thelocking protrusion being locked to a locking hole formed in an innersurface of an outer wall that is formed at a predetermined position ofthe case body.

Furthermore, the case body may include a plurality of through holes onthe back portion thereof, with annular heat dissipation protrusionsbeing further formed on an inner surface of the back portion to surroundthe through holes, an elongated spacer protrusion being further formedin the receiving hole to prevent the cellular phone seated in the casebody from rubbing against the support panel when it is moved.

As is apparent from the above description, that cellular-phone casehaving a retractable card holding structure of the present invention isadvantageous in that the outlet is provided in the case body, and thecard holding means for holding the card is provided to move into and outof the outlet, thus being convenient to store the card, making it easyto put or take the card into or out from the case, and maintaining agood appearance after the card has been stored in the case.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cellular-phone case having aretractable card holding structure according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the cellular-phone casehaving the retractable card holding structure according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view showing a disassembled state of thecellular-phone case having the retractable card holding structureaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the cellular-phone case having theretractable card holding structure according to the present invention;and

FIG. 5 is a rear view showing the cellular-phone case having theretractable card holding structure according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS IN THE DRAWINGS

 10: cellular-phone case  20: case body  30: card holding means  21:seating space  22: back portion 221: outlet 222: receiving hole 223:guide groove 224: rail groove 225: through hole 226: heat dissipationprotrusion  23: outer wall 227: spacer protrusion  31: support panel231: locking hole  32: actuating body 311: guide protrusion 322: lockingprotrusion 321: actuating recess 100: card

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a cellular-phone case having a retractable card holdingstructure according to a preferred embodiment of the present inventionwill be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Herein,thicknesses of lines or sizes of components, which are shown in thedrawings, may be exaggerated for the clarity of description and forconvenience sake. Further, terms that will be described below aredefined in consideration of the function of the present invention, andmay be changed depending on the intention of a user or an operator or onthe custom. Accordingly, these terms should be defined based on theentire contents of the specification.

Further, the following embodiment does not limit the scope of thepresent invention but is merely illustrative. It is possible toimplement various embodiments through the technical spirit of thisinvention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cellular-phone case having aretractable card holding structure according to the present invention,FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the cellular-phone casehaving the retractable card holding structure according to the presentinvention, FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view showing a disassembledstate of the cellular-phone case having the retractable card holdingstructure according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a front viewshowing the cellular-phone case having the retractable card is holdingstructure according to the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a rear viewshowing the cellular-phone case having the retractable card holdingstructure according to the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, the cellular-phone case 10 having theretractable card holding structure according to the present invention(hereinafter referred to as the cellular-phone case for conveniencesake) is the cellular-phone case that holds a card in such a way as thatit is put into or taken out from the case. Such a cellular-phone case 10includes a case body 20 and a card holding means 30.

The case body 20 is open at one side thereof to allow a user to touch adisplay screen of a cellular phone (not shown) fastened to the case body20, and is made of a synthetic resin material having elasticity. Thecase body 20 has a seating space 21 to allow the cellular phone to befitted and seated therein. An outlet 221 is provided at a predeterminedposition on a back portion 22 of the case body 20 in such a way as tocommunicate with the seating space 21.

Here, a rectangular receiving hole 222 is formed in an inner surface ofthe back portion 22 and communicates with the outlet 221 to allow asupport panel of the card holding means 30 that will be described belowto be put into and taken out from the case body 20. A pair of guidegrooves 223 each having a triangular cross-section is formedlongitudinally in the receiving hole 222. Rail grooves 224 are furtherformed on both sides of the receiving hole 222 to guide both ends of thesupport panel 31.

Further, a plurality of through holes 225 is formed in the back portion22 of the case body 20 to take a picture. Annular heat dissipationprotrusions 226 are further formed on the inner surface of the case body20 in such a way as to surround the through holes 225. An elongatedspacer protrusion 227 is further formed in the receiving hole 222 toprevent the cellular phone seated in the case body 20 from rubbingagainst the moving support panel 31.

In other words, the heat dissipation protrusions 226 dissipate heat fromthe interior of the case, thus preventing heat from escaping to theoutside via the through holes 225. The spacer protrusion 227 preventsthe support panel 31 from rubbing against the cellular phone while thesupport panel 31 is moved in and out. The support panel 31 is formed inthe shape of an elongated bar using synthetic resin. Here, the supportpanel 31 is movably engaged with the rail grooves 224 that are providedon both sides of the receiving hole 222, so the support panel 31 can bemoved along the rail grooves 224.

In this respect, the heat dissipation protrusions 226 are formed atregular intervals in such a way that heat dissipation protrusions havingrelatively larger diameters surround heat dissipation protrusions havingsmaller diameters.

The card holding means 30 includes the support panel 31 which is fittedinto the outlet 221 and on which the card 100 is disposed, and anactuating body 32 which is provided on a side of the support panel 31and is disposed to be caught by the outlet 221. The support panel 31 andthe actuating body 32 are integrated into a single structure and aremade of a synthetic resin.

Here, a pair of guide protrusions 311 is provided on an upper surface ofthe support panel 31 in such a way as to be fitted into the guidegrooves 223 and thus guided. An elongated receiving hole 312 is furtherformed to receive embossed letters (letters, such as a card number or anexpiration date, protruded by pressing) that protrude from a surface ofthe card 100, in addition to separating the card 100 from the supportpanel 31.

Preferably, a rectangular recess is further formed in the upper surfaceof the support panel 31 to allow a lower portion of the card to befitted therein.

Further, the guide grooves 223 are not connected to the outlet 221 toprevent the guide protrusions 311 of the support panel 31 from beingseparated from the guide grooves 223 and thereby prevent the supportpanel 31 from being removed from the outlet 221.

Here, an actuating recess 321 is formed in the upper surface of theactuating body 32, while a locking protrusion 322 is formed on the lowersurface of the actuating body 32. The locking protrusion 322 is lockedto a locking hole 231 that is formed in the inner surface of an outerwall 23 provided on a side of the case body 20.

The use of the cellular-phone case having the retractable card holdingstructure configured as described above will be described. First, a userinserts his or her nail or finger into the actuating recess 321 to takethe card 100 out from the cellular-phone case and then pulls theactuating body 32 out. At this time, the locking protrusion 322 isremoved from the locking hole 231, so that the support panel 31 is movedalong the rail grooves 224 to be taken out.

Subsequently, he or she puts his or her finger into the lower portion ofthe receiving hole 312 of the support panel 31 to raise the card 100disposed on the upper surface of the support panel 31. Thereafter, thecard 100 is gripped by the other hand and then is used. After the card100 has been used, the card 100 is placed on the upper surface of thesupport panel 31 in such a way as to be locked to the guide protrusion311. Next, the support panel 31 is moved into the case such that thelocking protrusion 322 engages with the locking hole 231.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mobile device case comprising: a case bodyhaving a receiving space for receiving a mobile device therein; and aslidable member including a support panel that is received by andretractable from the case body; wherein the slidable member is designedto engage and shift along the case body from a first closedconfiguration to a second partially open configuration; wherein theslidable member includes a curved edge.
 2. The mobile device case ofclaim 1, wherein the slidable member further includes a lockingstructure configured to selectively lock the slidable member to the casebody in the first closed configuration.
 3. The mobile device case ofclaim 1, wherein the case body includes an aperture extendingtherethrough, and wherein the aperture is in communication with thereceiving space.
 4. The mobile device of claim 3, wherein the slidablemember is designed to be inserted through the aperture.
 5. The mobiledevice case of claim 1, wherein the slidable member includes an openingtherein.
 6. A mobile device case comprising: a case body having a backportion and a receiving space for receiving a mobile device therein; anda slidable member including a support panel that is received by andretractable from the case body; wherein the slidable member is designedto engage and shift along the case body from a first closedconfiguration to a second partially open configuration; wherein theslidable member includes a curved portion that extends an edge of theslidable member in a direction away from the receiving space when theslidable member is in the first closed configuration.
 7. The mobiledevice case of claim 6, wherein the slidable member further includes alocking structure configured to selectively lock the slidable member tothe case body in the first closed configuration.
 8. The mobile devicecase of claim 6, wherein the case body includes an aperture extendingtherethrough, and wherein the aperture is in communication with thereceiving space.
 9. The mobile device of claim 8, wherein the slidablemember is designed to be inserted through the aperture.
 10. The mobiledevice of claim 6, wherein the case body is configured such that a cardmay be positioned between an inner surface of the back portion and thesupport panel within the receiving space.
 11. The mobile device case ofclaim 10, wherein the slidable member includes an opening therein. 12.The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the slidable member includes arecess therein for receiving at least a portion of the card therein. 13.The mobile device of claim 6, wherein the slidable member includes anactuating body configured to selectively allow a user to engage theslidable member with the case body.
 14. An mobile device case,comprising: a case body having a receiving space designed to receive amobile device therein, the case body including an alignment channelhaving a length and a stop member; and a retractable sliding memberincluding a support panel, the support panel including a retractionlimiting member; wherein the support panel is designed to engage andshift along the alignment channel from a first closed configuration to asecond partially open configuration; wherein the stop member andretraction limiting member are engaged in the second partially openconfiguration.
 15. The mobile device case of claim 14, wherein the casebody includes an aperture extending therethrough.
 16. The mobile devicecase of claim 15, wherein the aperture is in communication with thereceiving space.
 17. The mobile device case of claim 16, wherein supportpanel is designed to be insertable through the aperture.
 18. The mobiledevice case of claim 15, wherein the support panel is configured to holda card.
 19. The mobile device case of claim 18, wherein the supportpanel includes a recess therein for receiving at least a portion of thecard therein.
 20. The mobile device case of claim 16, wherein theretractable sliding member further includes a locking structureconfigured to selectively lock the retractable sliding member to thecase body in the first closed configuration.